Nu's Asian Students Try New Tactics

Asian-American students at Northwestern University on Thursday announced they have changed tactics in their campaign for an Asian-American studies program.

The Asian-American Advisory Board, the Pan-Asian student group that had launched a 23-day hunger strike on April 12 following a protest march, will now lobby faculty members to secure support for the proposed ethnic studies program.

During the strike, the administration offered to establish four temporary Asian-American studies courses to begin next year and promised a faculty review of a full-fledged program.

"We are going to be talking to faculty, the community and the board of trustees to educate them about the significance of the Asian-American studies program," said Grace Lou, the group's president.

In February, the group presented the administration with a 200-page bound document outlining the purpose of the Asian-American studies program, including syllabuses and course descriptions from similar programs around the country.

The document also included petitions containing the signatures of 1,200 students and letters of support from faculty.

The students kicked off their drive for the program three years ago when they initiated the first student-run courses covering Asian-American themes.

But the hunger strikers were unsuccessful in establishing the program or in getting Henry Bienen, NU's president, to endorse the program. Several hunger strikers stood in silent protest during Bienen's inauguration as president last week.

Nevertheless, said Lou, "the hunger strike made everyone realize how serious supporters of Asian-American studies were in this effort."